Acceleration Clause
This is a portion/clause contained in your mortgage that allows the bank to call in the whole balance due on the loan in the event of missed payments. Without this clause, the bank must declare a separate default for each missed payment as the payment is missed. An acceleration clause allows a missed payment to be considered a default of the whole note and mortgage, and allows the bank to call...
Read MoreAccrued Interest
The amount of interest earned on a note, but not yet received in payment. An example would be a straight note (no payments). At the end of the first year the balance owed would be the original principal plus one year’s interest.
Read MoreAdd-On Interest
The interest is applied to the loan amount to get yearly interest. This is multiplied by the number of years. This total interest is added on to the loan balance. The monthly payment is calculated by dividing this number (principal plus add-on interest) by the number of payments. This method contrasts with charging interest on the remaining principal balance.
Read MoreAdjustable Rate Mortgage (ARM)
A mortgage or other real estate loan wherein the interest rate and payments that correspond to the interest are adjustable from year to year according to some index such as the rate paid by the government on Treasure Bills.
Read MoreAd Valorem Taxes
A Latin term meaning “based on value,” which applies to property taxes based on a percentage of the county’s assessment of the property’s value. The assessed value is the standard basis for local real property taxes, although some place “caps” (maximums) on the percentage of value or “parcel taxes”, which establish a flat rate per parcel. Ad...
Read MoreAdversary
The bankruptcy rules consist of nine distinct parts with Part VII governing adversary proceedings. Under Bankruptcy Rules Rule 7001, an adversary proceeding may be filed in a debtor’s bankruptcy action for certain specific reasons. An adversary proceeding may be filed to recover money or property of a debtor, for the sale of a debtor’s property by a co-owner, to object or revoke a...
Read MoreAffirmative Defense
A type of defense in which the defendant seeks to avoid liability by introducing new evidence not addresses in the claims of the plaintiff’s complaint. Such a defense must be raised in the defendant answer, and because affirmative defenses require the assertion of facts beyond those claimed by the plaintiff, the defendant has the burden of proof for the defense. The burden of proof is...
Read MoreAlgebraic Logic
The calculator logic of putting the operation sign (plus, minus, times or divided by) before the number is entered.
Read MoreAll-Inclusive Deed of Trust
A note secured by deed of trust that “wraps around” a smaller senior loan. See also “Wraparound Mortgage”.
Read MoreAmendment Of A Note
Changing the interest, payment schedule, or due date on an existing note without writing a new note.
Read MoreAmortization
The payments on an amortized loan are established to contain both principal and interest so that the loan will be paid off in full by the end of the amortization period.
Read MoreAnnual Percentage Rate (APR)
The true cost of a loan to a borrower as required by the Truth in Lending Laws.
Read MoreArrears
Behind in making payments, as in “The payments were 3 months in arrears.” Later than earned, as in “Loan interest is paid in arrears. The interest for May is paid in the June payment.
Read MoreAutomatic Stay
A freeze imposed on the lender as soon as you file for bankruptcy. The stay prevents lenders from moving forward on debt collections. Bankruptcy automatically triggers the stay, but in some situations lenders can convince the bankruptcy court to lift the stay.
Read More